In a betrayal of the sport they claimed to love, Butt, who missed the birth of his second child in Pakistan to be at court yesterday, arranged for his two star players to bowl three deliberate no balls in the game against England in August, last year.

Inside information of the fix was worth a fortune to betting syndicates based in London, Karachi in Pakistan, Mumbai in India and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The mastermind behind the plot was Butt’s agent Mazhar Majeed who demanded £150,000 from an undercover investigator to rig the bowling at Lord’s. Majeed even claimed he had links with shadowy underworld figures who could rig a whole Test match for £1million.

The court also heard how Majeed sent a text message to Butt asking him to intentionally lose wickets at last year’s Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies three months before the Lord’s Test.

Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were found guilty of conspiracy to cheat following a six-week trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court.

The scandal was uncovered in a sting operation by legendary investigative reporter Mazher Mahmood for the now defunct News of the World.

Mr Mahmood, known as the “Fake Sheikh,” posed as a rich businessman to gather evidence on the activities of Butt and the others before handing over his files to Scotland Yard.

Yesterday, Butt and Asif were found guilty of conspiracy to cheat following a six-week trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court. The two men were also found guilty of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments by a majority of 10-2. Amir, whose fledging career is now in tatters, admitted both charges before the trial. A legal order ban on reporting of Amir’s guilty pleas was lifted yesterday.

The maximum sentence for cheating is two years in jail and an unlimited fine, while accepting corrupt payments carries a sentence of up to seven years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

The players are due to be sentenced today and were on bail last night. The Sunday paper’s sting operation and the Yard investigation has revealed the scale of rampant corruption at the heart of international cricket.

The court heard how “simply breathtaking” sums of money were wagered in foreign betting markets, with an estimated $40billion to $50billion spent in the Indian sub-continent in one year alone.

Outside court, Detective Chief Superintendent Matthew Horne said: “This is a case of cheating pure and simple. The defendants, who are world class cricketers, sought to cheat to enhance earnings. The defendants have let down the cricketing world, their fans and the hard-working people that buy tickets to watch.”

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